Ohio State opens the 2026 season where so many voters expected it to be: No. 1 in the preseason AP Top 25.
But this poll came with a little more split than the usual early-August formality. Five teams picked up first-place votes, and while the Buckeyes led the way with 40, Oregon was right behind with 14.
Georgia settled in at No. 3, Notre Dame came in at No. 4 with six first-place votes, and Texas rounded out the top five.
Indiana was the biggest eye-opener near the top. The Hoosiers landed at No. 6 and drew eight first-place votes, a clear sign pollsters are not eager to miss on them again.
Miami checked in at No. 7 with one first-place vote, followed by Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, LSU, Texas Tech, Alabama and BYU. USC and Michigan shared 14th, then came Washington, Penn State, SMU, Tennessee, Utah, Iowa, Houston, Louisville and Missouri to finish the list.
The full preseason AP Top 25 for 2026 reads: Ohio State, Oregon, Georgia, Notre Dame, Texas, Indiana, Miami, Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, LSU, Texas Tech, Alabama, BYU, USC and Michigan tied at 14th, then Washington, Penn State, SMU, Tennessee, Utah, Iowa, Houston, Louisville and Missouri.
One notable wrinkle: no SEC team received a first-place vote, even though the league still packed the poll. The SEC placed nine teams in the preseason rankings, the most of any conference and 36 percent of the field, while the Big Ten was next with eight.
The early AP poll has never been a perfect map of where the season is headed, and the source material makes that point loudly. Two teams that were unranked in last year’s preseason poll - James Madison and Tulane - ended up making the College Football Playoff. Two years ago, four unranked teams got there.
The other side of that coin is even messier. Last preseason’s rankings had plenty of teams that faded out completely, including Penn State, Clemson, LSU, Arizona State, Illinois, South Carolina, Florida, SMU, Kansas State, Iowa State, Tennessee and Boise State.
Still, Ohio State’s spot at No. 1 is no small thing historically. The Buckeyes have been the most frequent preseason No. 1 team ever, appearing there 73 times since the AP preseason poll began in 1950, and they’ve been No. 1 in more than 95 percent of their early poll appearances. They also lead all teams with 1,016 regular-season poll appearances.
History also says the preseason No. 1 label is not exactly a golden ticket. Since the start of this century, only two teams that opened at No. 1 finished with the national title: USC in 2004 and Alabama in 2017. Alabama’s run remains the only wire-to-wire championship in the College Football Playoff era.
If the goal is to set yourself up for a title run, the sweet spot tends to be the top five. Every playoff-era champion except two started No. 5 or better in the preseason AP poll. LSU broke that pattern in 2019 by beginning at No. 6, and Indiana did it even more dramatically in the source’s recap of 2025, starting at No. 20 before running the table to become the first 16-0 team in college football since Yale in 1894 and winning the school’s first national championship.
Among the top five, No. 2 has been the most productive starting point in the playoff era, producing five national champions. No. 3 has also been a strong launch spot, with three champions, while No. 5 has delivered one. No. 4, though, has not produced a title team since 2014.
The playoff-era champions by preseason ranking listed in the source are: 2014 Ohio State at No. 2, 2015 Alabama at No.
3, 2016 Clemson at No. 2, 2017 Alabama at No.
1, 2018 Clemson at No. 2, 2019 LSU at No.
6, 2020 Alabama at No. 3, 2021 Georgia at No.
5, 2022 Georgia at No. 3, 2023 Michigan at No.
2, 2024 Ohio State at No. 2 and 2025 Indiana at No. 20.
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